My Maria
by CatX3
Summary: Shadow's been more down that usual, and all his friends have a way of cheering him up...SONGFIC to My Maria by Brooks and Dunn. Sorry It's been a while!


**IM ALIVE! IM NOT DEAD! IM BACK ON FF AFTER LIKE A MONTH! xD im SORRY I HAVE NEGLECTED YOU ALL! Sigh...now I'm out of breath. :o lol Well, anyhoo, this isn't a couple story. Not quite Sonamy, not quite Shadamy, Amy does play a big part in the story, but that's just cuz i like amy. and if you follow me on FF alot, you would know that :). Its just showing Amy's friendship with Shadow. Well, I will not bore you guys anymore. Disclaimer: All Sonic characters are owned by SEGA, not me. ENJOY!**

Shadow the Hedgehog walked solemnly down the brightly-colored pathway. Flowers and trees dotted the lush green grass, the buds on the branches just begginning to open up. The sun shined through the treetops, not a cloud in the sky. People from all ages enjoyed the beautiful day outside, not one frown on anyone's face...except this one specific hedgehog.

He hated all this joy, all this laughter, all this happiness. Why should these people get days like this, why do they deserve it? They've probably never done anything for someone else, never done a good enough deed to live everyday so happy.

...If he hated his surroundings so much...then why did he even bother coming to this place?

He sighed deeply and gazed up at the sky, his thoughts floating from the peaceful park to somewhere far into outerspace, a place that always found refuge in the back of Shadow's mind. _"I'm here because this is the kind of place we would always talk about visiting...together."_

A stray frisbee flew towards him, and landed softly against his foot. Following it, a little brunnette boy ran up and swiftly grabbed it. He looked up at Shadow and smiled, showing off two missing teeth. In return, the hedgehog remained silent, kept his face emotionless, and stared down at the boy. _"Smile back, Shadow..."_ A shy yet kind voice echoed in his mind. He almost listened to it, but but he couldn't bring his ips to curve upward even slightly.

The boy shut his mouth and left wihout a word, leaving Shadow alone once again.

_"I'm trying, Maria. But...I don't fit in with all this. I wish you were here with me..." _

"Hey, Shadow." His eyes reluctantly opened, revealing his deep red orbs to a familiar, and quite impatient jewel thief. She brought her hand up and waved at him, adding in a little flirtatious wink. "How's it goin'?"

Shadow quietly snorted through his nose, not in the mood for the bat's daily attempt at wooing him. "What's it to you, Rouge?"

She raised her eyesbrows in surprise, putting her hands on her hips in annoyance. "My, My. Is someone a little cranky today?" He clenched his mouth shut tight, resisting the urge to snap back at her. Instead, he turned on his heels and went on his way.

"That's all you're gonna leave me with? Not even a 'goodbye'?" Rouge called after him. It wasn't soon after he left her, that he heard the sound of wings slowly approaching him from above.

Rouge landed gracefully infront of him, stopping him in his tracks. She strolled up to his side and leaned on his shoulder, not even earning a glance from the hedgehog. "Alright, what's wrong?" He shifted his body aside so she stumbled off of him, causing her temper to rise. "Nothing to concern you."

She bit her lip, now very irritated. "Look, I'm just trying to help." "Well you aren't doing a very good job of it." He pushed past her and continued on his walk, leaving her in the dust.

"How insulting." She muttered to herself, just before a cheerful pink hedgehog caught her eye. "Hi Shadow! Isn't it a beautiful day?" Amy skipped along the pathway, passing by Shadow and waving at him. "It _would _be..."

He avoided crashing into her and paid no attention to her hurt expression as he walked by. Amy glanced to her side and focused on Rouge, making her way up to her curiously. "What's up with Shadow?"

Rouge blew a stray hair out of her face. "I have no idea, he just doesn't seem in the mood to put up with any crap today." Amy blinked a few times, trying to think up a plan to brighten up his day. If anyone could do that, she can.

"I'm gonna try and find out..." She turned and headed off in the direction he had traveled in.

When she found him, he was leaned up against a tree staring at the sky, deep in thought. She was somewhat afraid to inturrupt his thinking, he really seemed like he was different today, but she walked up to him.

"Shadow..." She called softly, cautiously getting closer. He tore his eyes away from the clouds and locked onto her, no emotion present. She offered a small smile, but when she got nothing in return, it vanished. "Do you want to talk about whatever is bothering you...?" She tried.

He blinked a few times, maybe trying to process what to say, then he sighed. "Not really." He studied the ground quietly, it was very silent around them, but not awkward, suprisingly.

He then brought his gaze back up to meet hers. He looked at her with sad eyes, suddenly deciding that Amy _was_ his friend. And right now that's exactly what he needed, a friend. One that he could talk to, and that was what she was offering.

"Actually, yah. I think talking would help." She stayed silent, and nodded her head, signalling for him to continue.

Shadow shut his eyes tightly, fighting the bitter feeling that overwhelms him every time he talks about this subject. "It's...the ARK..." He struggled to get the words out. "...The anniversary...today..."

Amy felt how much he was hurting, and she knew that Shadow was the type of person who usually put up defences around his feelings. So in a way, she knew this conversation wouldn't last long. But she tried her best to somehow make things better for him.

"Oh...I'm so sorry, Shadow...If there's anything I could do..." "You can't...do anything about it that is. No one can..." He hook his head, slight anger building up at the memory of the unfair death of his friend.

She thought for a moment before holding out her arms and stepping forward. "...How about a hug? We are friends right...?" His eyes opened a bit wider at her suggestion. No one's hugged him in a while...

"No...thanks anyway...for trying." He swallowed hard, feeling bad about turning her down. But he walked passed her, and continued out of the park and into the city.

Amy sighed. There's just gotta be a way to cheer him up today...wait a minute.

"I've got it!"

She ran off to find a specific blue hedgehog.

...

"Hey, Sonikuu!" She ran up to Sonic with her arms spread out wide and a big smile on her face.

When he heard her scream, he turned his head and his eyes bugged out of his head. "Amy!" He held his hands up to stop her, but she simply grabbed them and whipped them out of her way. Then she hugged him so tightly his face turned purple.

"Amy...please...can't...breath...!" Hearing this, she let him go and giggled girlishly. Even when he was gasping for air, he was still so cute.

She twirled her hair around her index finger, giving him a little smile and causing him to blush. "I almost forgot why I came to find you in the first place!" He chuckled nervously. "It wasn't just to hug me, like always?"

"Not this time, silly!" Her smile faded when she thought about the talk she just had with Sonic's look-alike. "It's Shadow... you see, it's the anniversary of the ARK...and he's-"

"Not himself, I know. Rouge came and complained to me and Knuckles about it a few minutes ago." Sonic brought his hand to his chin and looked to the sky thoughtfully. "I was wondering why he seemed more of a downer than usual."

Amy tilted her head and bit her lip. "Do you have any idea how we can cheer him up?" Sonic laughed. "Well, not much can ever make him smile. But I think I may have an idea that will."

"What is it?" "Gather everyone together, we'll need all of our friends to pull this off."

...

_"I kind of feel bad about just leaving Amy like that. She really was just trying to help-" _

"Hey Shadow!" He cringed at the sound of that faker's voice shouting out his name. Just what he needed...

Without even turning around to face him, he knew he was standing there with a big cocky smile on his face. One hand on his hip, and the other waving back and forth at him. "I'm not in the mood to race today to just forget it-"

"No, not that!" Shadow turned around, and what he saw somewhat shocked him.

It was Sonic alright, but he wasn't exactly standing how Shadow predicted him to be. In addition to his usual position, an acoustic guitar was slung across his back. The same grin on his face as always.

"What are you doing...?" Sonic held his hand up and silenced him. "Now, we all know what day it is. And we wanted to try and cheer ya up a little bit." Sonic's smile grew wider when Shadow asked dumbly, "We...?".

On cue, all of the Sonic crew walked out from behind the trees of the park. Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Cream, Cheese, Espio, Charmy, Vector, Silver, and Blaze stood behind Sonic, all wearing smiling faces. Some held tamborines bheind their backs, in a failed attempt at hiding them.

"What's going on?" Shadow raised an eyebrow, curious to what they all had planned. Sonic ignored his question and prepared to play the guitar. "Just listen to this."

Sonic began strumming a tune that Shadow knew very well, even though he wasn't too big a fan of country. _"My Maria..." _

Shadow's mouth fell open when Sonic started to sing the lyrics. _"Don't you know I've come from a long long way..." _His voice was suprisingly fitting to the song, not like the original artist...but it went well with the song.

_"I've been longing to see her when she's around, she takes my blues away...Sweet Maria..." _

Everyone beat their hands on the tamborines in rythmn to the beat. _"The sunlight surely hurts my eyes...I'm a lonely dreamer on a highway in the sky..." _

Sonic laughed at Shadow's expression as he sang, as did everyone else. _"My Mariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiia...!" _"You know this part, Shadow!" Silver yelled at him to sing along, but only earned a scowl in return.

"Oh, my Maria! Maria, I love you girl! Maria, I love you!" All of his friends sang along, inviting him to do the same. But he remained silent. Who are they to sing this song to Maria? They didn't even know her!

_"My Maria...there were some blue and sorrow times..." _hadow rolled his eyes. What did they know about sorrow times...?

_"Just my thoughts about you bring back my peace of mind...Gypsy Lady..." _Shadow blinked. He looked down at the ground to see his foot tapping along to the beat.

_"You set my soul free like a ship sailing on the sea..." _No...There's absouletly NO WAY he was going to dance. No way in-

"Mr. Shadow!"

Cream ran up to him and grabbed his hand, jumping up and down excitedly. "Would you please dance with me...?"

Shadow glanced up at Sonic and saw him smirking. _"She is the sunlight when the..." _He threw his hands up in the air. _"...sky's all grey!" _

_"She treats me so right Lady...take me away!" _These lyrics were so true about Maria...Shadow couldn't help but let a smile break loose. _"My Mariiiiiiiiiiiiiiia!" _

He couldn't help it anymore. He smiled. He grinned. He laughed.

Shadow the Hedgehog lifted up the little rabbit and and twirled her around in the air. "Weeeeee!" He ran up next to Sonic and joined him in the next lyric, making everyone smile and laugh. "_My Mariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiia!" _

"Oh my Maria!" "Maria, I lvoe you!" Everyone laughed and danced together. Shadow enjoyed himself, and he found that he was honoring Maria's memory by doing what she would have wanted. She would have wanted him to have fun, and have friends, and live life to the fullest.

People who were just walking around the park had heard their celebration and joined in the singing and dancing. "My Maria, I love you!"

Then everyone's voices faded, all except Shadow's. "Maria...I love you...!" Everyone clapped as he finished with a leap in the air. He was enjoying himself so much that he hadn't realized that tears were rolling down his cheeks.

He couldn't tell if it was from happiness, or sadness, or both! But he was crying. Shadow the Hedgehog was crying.

Sunlight poured through the treetops of the park, shining down on the happy group of friends. Everyone clapped and cheered and hugged and just plain had fun. Shadow stood straight and gazed up at the sky, smiling like never before.

Sonic put his hand on his shoulder, and Amy stood next to him, They were both grinning. Shadow wiped his eyes and chuckled. "Thank you..so much." Amy hugged him and Sonic patted his back. All of their friends surrounded them and laughed.

_"Smile, Shadow. Smile." _

**I know that at the end Shadow's new personality is like the exact opposite of his actual personality, but...meh. That's what I was going for. Shadow deserves to be happy today. :) LOVE YOU SHADOW!**


End file.
